The Rhythms of Platformization: Exploring Algorithmic Influence on the Practices of Music Artists

Abstract

As the practices of distribution, consumption and production of music have changed with the digitalization of the music industry, music artists must engage with new technologies and gatekeepers who impact the circulation of their products. Music is now mainly consumed through music streaming platforms, and artists’ relationship with fans and promotional work is mainly facilitated on social media platforms, that curate and recommend music and content through algorithms. This has led music artists to become platform dependent, and a variety of strategies to be seen and heard have risen as a response. Employing a qualitative research approach, with semi-structured interviews of music artists and industry professionals, and a thematic analysis of the empirical material, this thesis investigates how Norwegian music artists and music professionals reflect upon the influence of algorithms in their careers, and how that impacts artists’ creative processes and products.

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to existing knowledge by providing new contexts and perspectives on the algorithmic and platform practices within the music industry. While some findings of the thesis support existing research, others offer new insights. The study reveals that Norwegian music artists are influenced by pressures of visibility and non-musical skills. There is a dependency on new regimes of visibility, where understanding and navigating algorithmic recommendations and digital platform curation is found to be important to succeed, along with the necessity of conforming to normative forms of self-expression and engagement. This results in a negotiation between cultural autonomy and commercial success, as the algorithmic weight of music and content discovery is perceived to favor certain forms.

Prior research has discovered an increased focus on sonic optimization, which was however not a common strategy among the study’s participants, who rather look to other ways of optimizing their discoverability. Furthermore, the datafication of artists’ performance impacts their engagement with platforms based on metrics and data, influencing artists emotionally and creatively as they must continually negotiate between their cultural autonomy and appealing to the algorithms.